The Råby spring
The trees stand as sentinels posted around a shallow depression marking the site of the now dried-up Råby spring. A furtive imagination is required for the visitor to picture the round pavilion with thatched roof over a spring, a dance floor and a red-painted wooden building with a skittle alley that once stood here. The buildings were moved here from a disused spa on Helgonabacken in 1846 Drinking from the spring and other festivities came to an end in the 1860’s. The health trend involving the alleged health-promoting mineral water had begun to ebb and in 1873 a mains water pipe was installed in Lund.
An important event in the history of the spring occurred in 1849 when students dressed in peasant wedding clothing marched to the site all the way from Lund and then home again. It is said that this event was the prelude to the Lund Carnival
Today, the site is in the green belt area (Hälsobrunnen 2), southwest of the Ulrikedal student building.
Text and photo: Claes Wahlöö